There have been many attempts in the food industry to produce food products with high contents of plant proteins, having a fibrous appearance and texture.
Israel Patent No. 80207 proposes a small-batch process for producing a meat analog from vegetable proteins, wherein a dough comprising at least 20% vital wheat gluten is prepared, the dough is heated and allowed to expand in three dimensions such that the swelling increases by at least 35% and then the dough is oriented by allowing it to expand only in one direction in which there is a reduction in a cross-sectional area of the expanding mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,040 proposes a continuous process, which is alleged to yield a protein product having aligned fibers. In this process a dough is prepared, and then pushed by a screw feeder through a first cylindrical passageway where the dough is allowed to relax, a second passageway with a decreased cross-sectional area and then through a third elongated passageway. In this third passageway the dough is heated to set the food product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,507 proposes a process for the production of food products from potato materials and protein. Similarly as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,040, the dough is pushed, by a screw feeder with a decreasing cross-sectional area and then through an additional elongated passageway in which the mass is heated so as to set the food product.